This invention relates to the manufacture of an electrically conductive coated product suitable for medical applications and especially to such conductive products having a metal substrate on which a conductive hydrogel polymer layer is formed.
Electrically conductive coated products have been made with an electrically conductive hydrogel which has been cured on the surface of an metal substrate such as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,391,278 and 4,581,821 issued to Cahalan et al. Laminated conductive products can be purchased in roll form from the Promeon Division of Medtronic, Inc. For example, a product designated RG-51 is a product which includes three layers. A first layer is an aluminum/polyester laminate; a second layer is a hydrogel based on 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid; and a third layer is a release liner. It was noted that in the conventional process for producing this product, localized corrosion of the aluminum substrate occurred after the product was made. The result was unacceptable pitting of the substrate and a high scrap rate for the finished product.
It would therefore be desirable to provide an improved process for making metal/hydrogel products by which the corrosion of the finished product is prevented.